Identify this moray eel
- Thread starter xkon
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Dmorty217
Saltwater Addict
Toothy little bugger
Watch your fingers!:deadhorse:
I was bitten by a fimbriated moray eel back in my LFS days.... never again!
xkon
Member
Well I didn't buy that, more so was just curious on what kind it was and if anyone had more info on it. I have never seen one like it before. Do you guys agree that it is the Caribbean spotted moray?
Funny you say that SDguy, because I did end up purchasing this guy today. 7" fimbriated eel. How was your experience with this eel (besides the bite lol)
Funny you say that SDguy, because I did end up purchasing this guy today. 7" fimbriated eel. How was your experience with this eel (besides the bite lol)
LukFox
Active member
Yeah looks like moringa.
My experience with fimbriateds are bitey bitey bitey. Haven't been bitten yet, but oh she tries. Hungry, messy messy eater. I usually do a spot clean water change after every feeding because she flings food every where. Worse than any other moray I've had. Basically always up for food, and very good at biting. Fun to watch, and she loves to chase my fingers, and shoots out of her cave when I tap the top of the tank (food signal).
Otherwise, she spends a lot of time in her pvc cave. Seems to enjoy the fake plants I have in there that help conceal the exits of the pvc, giving her more security to peek out. Spends her time out of sight except when she's expecting food. Also, she tries to bite when I clean the tank too even if the smell of food isn't in the water. I have to bat her away with a tool before she gets the message that she isn't eating right now.
Edit: I should also mention I used to have second one that behaved much the same. Lost it to bad octopus, but yeah still a bitey and hungry fellow, yet very shy and out of sight if they don't think food is coming. The tank usually looks empty at first glance. It's fun for guests to wonder why I have an empty tank, then tap the top and out shoots a big ol' eel.
My experience with fimbriateds are bitey bitey bitey.
Haven't been bitten yet, but oh she tries. Hungry, messy messy eater. I usually do a spot clean water change after every feeding because she flings food every where. Worse than any other moray I've had. Basically always up for food, and very good at biting. Fun to watch, and she loves to chase my fingers, and shoots out of her cave when I tap the top of the tank (food signal).Otherwise, she spends a lot of time in her pvc cave. Seems to enjoy the fake plants I have in there that help conceal the exits of the pvc, giving her more security to peek out. Spends her time out of sight except when she's expecting food. Also, she tries to bite when I clean the tank too even if the smell of food isn't in the water. I have to bat her away with a tool before she gets the message that she isn't eating right now.
Edit: I should also mention I used to have second one that behaved much the same. Lost it to bad octopus, but yeah still a bitey and hungry fellow, yet very shy and out of sight if they don't think food is coming. The tank usually looks empty at first glance. It's fun for guests to wonder why I have an empty tank, then tap the top and out shoots a big ol' eel.
Last edited:
xkon
Member
Yeah looks like moringa.
My experience with fimbriateds are bitey bitey bitey.
Otherwise, she spends a lot of time in her pvc cave. Seems to enjoy the fake plants I have in there that help conceal the exits of the pvc, giving her more security to peek out. Spends her time out of sight except when she's expecting food. Also, she tries to bite when I clean the tank too even if the smell of food isn't in the water. I have to bat her away with a tool before she gets the message that she isn't eating right now.
Edit: I should also mention I used to have second one that behaved much the same. Lost it to bad octopus, but yeah still a bitey and hungry fellow, yet very shy and out of sight if they don't think food is coming. The tank usually looks empty at first glance. It's fun for guests to wonder why I have an empty tank, then tap the top and out shoots a big ol' eel.
Sorry for the barrage of questions but here goes lol. How long have you had it? What size was it when you got it and how big is it now? What types or food do you feed it and how often? Do you have any tank mates or did you attempt any at one point?
LukFox
Active member
I've had her for over 4 years now.
Got her around the same size as yours, or smaller? She's currently over 2 feet, but I haven't gotten an exact measurement on her.
I feed her any saltwater fish I can find at the supermarket that does not contain thiaminase (I refer to this article). Right now I think I'm feeding haddock for example. I also feed her prawns, even though those are less good for her. She loves them though. I also soak her food in vita-chem for some extra vitamins. Feed 2x a week.
I only tried keeping her with another fimbriated, and over time things got better between them. I was attempting to pair them and it looks like it could have been working before the octopus ruined things.
Other than that, I did temporarily keep her in a divided tank with my dusky butterfly. During a tank cleaning, I knocked down the divider and didn't really bother with it because so much was going on with me stirring everything up, how could she possibly be hungry or do anything? In the past, I've only had fish want to hide when I was doing a big clean. My fimby who had never seen another fish except for the other fimbriated, immediately shot out at the dusky butterfly just seconds after the divider was down. Took a big chunk out of the dusky's side, and I had to fight to get her away and replace the divider. (The dusky recovered 100% within a week, can't even tell anything ever happened. Still was very alarming.) I'd never keep this fish with tank mates, except maybe other eels.
Not all individuals are this bad, but there's a reason I waited until I could keep a species tank before getting a fimbriated... Lots of stories of them eating all of their tank mates out there, or eating them all once they mature and get comfortable, and my experience backs that up.
Got her around the same size as yours, or smaller? She's currently over 2 feet, but I haven't gotten an exact measurement on her.
I feed her any saltwater fish I can find at the supermarket that does not contain thiaminase (I refer to this article). Right now I think I'm feeding haddock for example. I also feed her prawns, even though those are less good for her. She loves them though. I also soak her food in vita-chem for some extra vitamins. Feed 2x a week.
I only tried keeping her with another fimbriated, and over time things got better between them. I was attempting to pair them and it looks like it could have been working before the octopus ruined things.
Other than that, I did temporarily keep her in a divided tank with my dusky butterfly. During a tank cleaning, I knocked down the divider and didn't really bother with it because so much was going on with me stirring everything up, how could she possibly be hungry or do anything? In the past, I've only had fish want to hide when I was doing a big clean. My fimby who had never seen another fish except for the other fimbriated, immediately shot out at the dusky butterfly just seconds after the divider was down. Took a big chunk out of the dusky's side, and I had to fight to get her away and replace the divider. (The dusky recovered 100% within a week, can't even tell anything ever happened. Still was very alarming.) I'd never keep this fish with tank mates, except maybe other eels.
Not all individuals are this bad, but there's a reason I waited until I could keep a species tank before getting a fimbriated... Lots of stories of them eating all of their tank mates out there, or eating them all once they mature and get comfortable, and my experience backs that up.
xkon
Member
Cool, appreciate the response. Nice picture of the eel, do you have one at its current size?
Right now this eel is housed will a volitan, radiata lionfish, and a bicolor angel, all about 3 inches or so. I would deem them all "safe" for now, the eel's head is smaller than the size of a dime right now. The intention was to move the volitan when it gets larger, and leave the other two in the tank with the eel. I'm guessing this will probably turn into a gamble once the eel starts putting on a little size. I'm hoping since the other fish were in there first and that he is still a juvenile they might be able to co-exist or is this just wishful thinking based on the aggressiveness of the majority of the fimbriated eels
Right now this eel is housed will a volitan, radiata lionfish, and a bicolor angel, all about 3 inches or so. I would deem them all "safe" for now, the eel's head is smaller than the size of a dime right now. The intention was to move the volitan when it gets larger, and leave the other two in the tank with the eel. I'm guessing this will probably turn into a gamble once the eel starts putting on a little size. I'm hoping since the other fish were in there first and that he is still a juvenile they might be able to co-exist or is this just wishful thinking based on the aggressiveness of the majority of the fimbriated eels
LukFox
Active member
Probably wishful thinking based on the majority of fimbriated eels, but if you don't mind them becoming fish food you could take your gamble... I've heard of a small handful that don't bother tank mates.
I ended up posting some pics, probably while you were posting your response.
I ended up posting some pics, probably while you were posting your response.
xkon
Member
Really nice pictures and eel Lukfox. It has a wicked set of teeth on it. I guess I will attempt to monitor the tank the best I can and see if I notice any signs of aggression towards the tankmates and seperate from there if at that point it already isn't too late.
The tessa eels get big like 5+ feet though don't they? I would expect that to eat the lionfish...me...my neighbors...practically anything that moved near the tank lol. Jk, but I have read tessa's are extremely aggressive. I guess yours wasn't pushing that size at the time it ate the lion though?
and for you guys with eels, how tight is your lid secured and how did/do you end up securing it down?
The tessa eels get big like 5+ feet though don't they? I would expect that to eat the lionfish...me...my neighbors...practically anything that moved near the tank lol. Jk, but I have read tessa's are extremely aggressive. I guess yours wasn't pushing that size at the time it ate the lion though?
and for you guys with eels, how tight is your lid secured and how did/do you end up securing it down?
LukFox
Active member
For lids, glass when they're small, and I'm currently using eggcrate cut to size (and cut to allow for the skimmer and all that so there are no gaps anywhere) because she is large enough and can't fit through the holes. I weigh it down with... well a lot of stuff. Each corner has a weight! Not the prettiest look, but I want her to stay in there.
Dmorty217
Saltwater Addict
It was less than 18" when it ate the lion
xkon
Member
I guess I don't have much time for mine before I should be wary lol.
My tank is divided by with a center brace at the top. So one the one half where I have the skimmer, I cut egg crate to fit snuggly and hot glued fiberglass netting to it so he cant get through. There is about a 1"x1" gap behind one of the skimmer outlets so I'm hoping he doesn't find that. On the other side I have a plastic lid with a hinge opening that I put some weights on to hold it down. It will work for now but not when bigger for sure. How heavy of a weight do you think is needed for these eels when larger? I also have the lights ontop of the two sides which adds a little bit of extra weight.
Just took a video of me feeding a piece of thawed squid today. First time I saw an eel eat in person, impressive to see
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XQ-IHroFeg
I'm by no means an expert, but I'd do smaller pieces, if for no other reason, than to make the feeding process less messy, and help keep water quality up, and water changes down.
